Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with Rule 13d-3(d) promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and includes shares of common stock with respect to which the 2013 Selling Stockholders have voting and investment power. The percentage of shares of common stock beneficially owned by the 2013 Selling Stockholders prior to the offering shown in the table below is based on an aggregate of 375,707,190 shares of our common stock outstanding on January 15, 2014. The number of shares shown as beneficially owned in the table below are calculated pursuant to Rule 13d-3(d)(1) of the Exchange Act. Under Rule 13d-3(d)(1), shares not outstanding that are subject to options, warrants, rights or conversion privileges exercisable within 60 days are deemed outstanding for the purpose of calculating the number and percentage owned by such person, but are not deemed outstanding for the purpose of calculating the percentage owned by each other person listed. Because the purchase price of the shares of common stock issuable under the 2013 Purchase Agreement is determined on each settlement date, the number of shares that may actually be sold by us under the 2013 Purchase Agreement may be fewer than the number of shares being offered by this prospectus on behalf of the 2013 Selling Stockholders. The fourth column assumes the sale of all of the shares offered by the 2013 Selling Stockholders pursuant to this prospectus.   

2012 Selling Stockholders

The shares of common stock being offered by the 2012 Selling Stockholders are those issuable to the 2012 Selling Stockholders upon exercise of their Warrants. For additional information regarding the issuance of the Warrants, see “DESCRIPTION OF 2012 PRIVATE PLACEMENT AND WARRANTS” beginning on page 20 of this prospectus. We are registering the shares of common stock issuable to the 2012 Selling Stockholders upon the exercise of their Warrants in order to permit the 2012 Selling Stockholders to offer the shares for resale from time to time. Except for (i) the ownership of the Convertible Notes and Warrants issued pursuant to the 2012 Purchase Agreement and (ii) the ownership of shares of our common stock issued upon conversion of such Convertible Notes, the 2012 Selling Stockholders have not had any material relationship with us or our affiliates within the past three years.   

The table below lists the 2012 Selling Stockholders and other information regarding the beneficial ownership of shares of our common stock by each of the 2012 Selling Stockholders. The second column lists the number of shares of common stock beneficially owned by each 2012 Selling Stockholder, based on its ownership of shares of our common stock issued upon conversion of its Convertible Notes and its ownership of Warrants, as of January 15, 2014 assuming exercise of the Warrants held by such Selling Stockholder on that date, without regard to any limitations on conversions, amortizations, redemptions or exercises.  

The third column lists the shares of common stock being offered by this prospectus by the 2012 Selling Stockholders.

This prospectus covers the resale of 100% of the maximum number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants held by the 2012 Selling Stockholders as of the trading day immediately preceding the date this Registration Statement is filed with the SEC, all subject to adjustment as provided in the 2012 Registration Rights Agreement and in each case without regard to any limitations on exercise of such Warrants. Because the exercise price of the Warrants may be adjusted, the number of shares that will actually be issued may be more or less than the number of shares being offered by this prospectus on behalf of the 2012 Selling Stockholders. The fourth column assumes the sale of all of the shares offered by the 2012 Selling Stockholders pursuant to this prospectus.

Under the terms of the Warrants, a 2012 Selling Stockholder may not exercise the Warrants to the extent such exercise would cause such selling stockholder, together with its affiliates, to beneficially own a number of shares of common stock which would exceed 4.99% of our then outstanding shares of common stock following such exercise, excluding for purposes of such determination shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants which have not been exercised. The number of shares in the second column does not reflect this limitation (the "Maximum Percentage").

USE OF PROCEEDS 

The 2013 Selling Stockholders and the 2012 Selling Stockholders, collectively, may sell all of the common stock offered by this prospectus from time to time. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of such common stock by the 2013 Selling Stockholders or the 2012 Selling Stockholders. We may, however, receive from the 2013 Selling Stockholders aggregate gross proceeds of up to $20.0 million if all of the shares of common stock contemplated to be sold to the 2013 Selling Stockholders pursuant to the 2013 Purchase Agreement are sold. We may also receive from the 2012 Selling Stockholders proceeds from the exercise of the Warrants, if exercised. We cannot guarantee that the 2012 Selling Stockholders will exercise the Warrants or that the 2013 Selling Stockholders will purchase all of the shares contemplated to be sold pursuant to the 2013 Purchase Agreement. Any net proceeds received from the sale of shares of our common stock to the 2013 Selling Stockholders under the 2013 Purchase Agreement and from the 2012 Selling Stockholders upon the exercise of the Warrants will be used for general working capital purposes.

DETERMINATION OF OFFERING PRICE

There is currently a limited public market for our common stock. The 2013 Selling Stockholders and the 2012 Selling Stockholders will determine at what price they may sell the offered shares, and such sales may be made at prevailing market prices or at privately negotiated prices. See “PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION” beginning on page 76 of this prospectus.

DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never paid a cash dividend on our common stock. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, and we plan to retain our earnings to finance our operations and future growth.

MARKET PRICE OF COMMON STOCK AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

Market for Our Common Stock

Our common stock is currently quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “LQMT.” On February 7, 2014, the last reported sales price of our common stock was $0.29 per share.    

Number of Common Shareholders

As of January 15, 2014, we had 220 record holders of our common stock.   

Quarterly High/Low Bid Quotations

The following table sets forth, on a per share basis, the range of high and low bid information for the shares of our common stock for each full quarterly period within the two most recent fiscal years and any subsequent interim period for which financial statements are included, as reported by the OTC Bulletin Board. These quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This management’s discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included elsewhere in this registration statement.

This management’s discussion and analysis, as well as other sections of this registration statement, may contain “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding our plans, future events, objectives, expectations, forecasts, or assumptions. Any statement that is not a statement of historical fact is a forward-looking statement, and in some cases, words such as “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “seek,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from the anticipated outcomes or results, and undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the matters discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” and other risks and uncertainties discussed in other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Liquidmetal Technologies disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Overview

We are a materials technology company that develops and commercializes products made from amorphous alloys. Our Liquidmetal® family of alloys consists of a variety of proprietary bulk alloys and composites that utilize the advantages offered by amorphous alloy technology. We design, develop and sell products and components from bulk amorphous alloys to customers in various industries. We also partner with third-party manufacturers and licensees to develop and commercialize Liquidmetal alloy products.

Amorphous alloys are, in general, unique materials that are distinguished by their ability to retain a random atomic structure when they solidify, in contrast to the crystalline atomic structures that form in other metals and alloys when they solidify. Liquidmetal alloys are proprietary amorphous alloys that possess a combination of performance, processing, and potential cost advantages that we believe will make them preferable to other materials in a variety of applications. The amorphous atomic structure of our alloys enables them to overcome certain performance limitations caused by inherent weaknesses in crystalline atomic structures, thus facilitating performance and processing characteristics superior in many ways to those of their crystalline counterparts. For example, in laboratory testing, our zirconium-titanium Liquidmetal alloys are approximately 250% stronger than commonly used titanium alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V, but they also have some of the beneficial processing characteristics more commonly associated with plastics. We believe these advantages could result in Liquidmetal alloys supplanting high-performance alloys, such as titanium and stainless steel, and other incumbent materials in a variety of applications. Moreover, we believe these advantages could enable the introduction of entirely new products and applications that are not possible or commercially viable with other materials.   

Our revenues are derived from (i) selling our bulk Liquidmetal alloy products, which include non-consumer electronic devices, aerospace parts, medical products, automotive components, oil and gas exploration, and sports and leisure goods, (ii) selling tooling and prototype parts such as demonstration parts and test samples for customers with products in development, (iii) product licensing and royalty revenue, and (iv) research and development revenue.

Our cost of sales consists primarily of the costs of outsourcing our manufacturing to third parties. Selling, general, and administrative expenses currently consist primarily of salaries and related benefits, travel, consulting and professional fees, depreciation and amortization, insurance, office and administrative expenses, and other expenses related to our operations.

Research and development expenses represent salaries, related benefits expense, depreciation of research equipment, consulting and contract services, expenses incurred for the design and testing of new processing methods, expenses for the development of sample and prototype products, and other expenses related to the research and development of Liquidmetal bulk alloys. Costs associated with research and development activities are expensed as incurred. We plan to enhance our competitive position by improving our existing technologies and developing advances in amorphous alloy technologies. We believe that our research and development efforts will focus on the discovery of new alloy compositions, the development of improved processing technology, and the identification of new applications for our alloys.

Licensing Transactions

Transaction with Visser Precision Cast, LLC

On June 1, 2012, we entered into a Master Transaction Agreement (the “Visser MTA Agreement”) with Visser Precision Cast, LLC (“Visser”) relating to a strategic transaction for manufacturing services and financing.

Under the manufacturing and service component of the Visser MTA Agreement, we have agreed to engage Visser as a perpetual, exclusive manufacturer of non-consumer electronic products and to not, directly or indirectly, conduct manufacturing operations, subcontract for the manufacture of products or components or grant a license to any other party to conduct manufacturing operations, except for certain limited exceptions. Further, we have agreed to sublicense to Visser, on a fully-paid up, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide basis, all intellectual property rights held by us. Visser’s use of such sublicense is limited to the exercise of its manufacturing rights, provided that such limitation will terminate if we fail to comply with certain technical, administrative, and research and development support obligations set forth in the transaction agreements with Visser and such failure is not cured within 60 days. In addition, Visser has a right of first refusal over any proposed transfer of our technology pursuant to any license, sublicense, sale or other transfer, other than a license to a machine or alloy vendor.   

Under the Visser MTA Agreement, we issued and sold to Visser in a private placement transaction (i) 30,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $0.10 per share resulting in proceeds of $3 million, and (ii) warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of common stock (subsequently increased to 18,539,762 shares under the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants) at an original exercise price of $0.22 per share (subsequently reduced to $0.18 per share under the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants), which expire on June 1, 2017. All of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are subject to a lockup period through December 31, 2016.

In November 2013, we entered into arbitration proceedings with Visser to resolve disputes associated with the Visser MTA Agreement (see note 15 in the accompanying footnotes to the financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2013).

Apple License Transaction

On August 5, 2010, we entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which (i) we contributed substantially all of our intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary, called Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC (“CIP”), (ii) CIP granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products, as defined in the license agreement, in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) CIP granted back to us a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use. Additionally, in connection with the license transaction, Apple required us to complete a statement of work related to the exchange of Liquidmetal intellectual property information. We recognized a portion of the one-time license fee upon receipt of the initial payment and completion of the foregoing requirements under the license transaction. The remaining portion of the one-time license fee was recognized at the completion of the required statement of work.

Under the agreements relating to the license transaction with Apple, we are obligated to contribute all intellectual property that we developed through February 2012 (and subsequently amended to extend through February 2014) to CIP. We are also obligated to maintain certain limited liability company formalities with respect to CIP at all times after the closing of the license transaction.   

Other License Transactions

On January 31, 2012, we entered into a Supply and License Agreement for a five year term with Engel Austria Gmbh (“Engel”) whereby Engel was granted a non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to our licensees. Since that time, we have delivered to Engel a customized induction melt system with a configuration for a standard injection-molding machine that that can be commercially supplied and supported by Engel to enable future licensees to manufacture Liquidmetal components. As of December 31, 2013, no revenues have been recognized under this agreement.

On November 16, 2011, we entered into a Development Agreement with Materion Brush Inc. (“Materion”) to evaluate, analyze and develop amorphous alloy feedstock to be supplied in commercial quantities. Further, on June 17, 2012, we entered into a Sales Representation Agreement with Materion whereby Materion shall promote the sale of our products for certain commissions. This agreement is for a two year initial term with annual, automatic renewals. To date, there have been no commission payments related to this agreement.

Our Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary has the exclusive right and license to utilize our Liquidmetal alloy technology for purposes of golf equipment applications. This right and license is set forth in an intercompany license agreement between us and Liquidmetal Golf. This license agreement provides that Liquidmetal Golf has a perpetual and exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy technology for the purpose of manufacturing, marketing, and selling golf club components and other products used in the sport of golf. We own 79% of the outstanding common stock in Liquidmetal Golf.

In June 2003, we entered into an exclusive license agreement with LLPG, Inc. (“LLPG”). Under the terms of the agreement, LLPG has the right to commercialize Liquidmetal alloys, particularly precious-metal based compositions, in jewelry and high-end luxury product markets. We, in turn, will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by LLPG. The exclusive license agreement with LLPG expires on December 31, 2021.

In March 2009, we entered into a license agreement with Swatch Group, Ltd. (“Swatch”) under which Swatch was granted a perpetual non-exclusive license to our technology to produce and market watches and certain other luxury products. In March 2011, this license agreement was amended to grant Swatch exclusive rights as to watches, and our license agreement with LLPG was simultaneously amended to exclude watches from LLPG’s rights. We will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by Swatch. The license agreement with Swatch will expire on the expiration date of the last licensed patent.   

Results of Operations

Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011  

In discussing our results of our operations, we have categorized the specific items of our statements of operations into various categories to facilitate the understanding of our core business operations. Explanations of each category as well as analyses of specific items contained in that category are discussed below:

Operating revenue and expenses

Operating revenue and expenses category of statements of operations items represent those items that pertain to our core operations in the bulk alloy manufacturing and licensing business as follows:

Revenue. Our revenues are segregated into two types representing (i) Products which contain revenues related to our bulk alloy manufacturing business and (ii) Licensing and royalties which contain revenues related to our bulk alloy licensing business.   

Total revenue decreased by $322 thousand to $650 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2012 from $972 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2011. The decrease is primarily attributable to a one-time license fee from Swatch in the amount of $381 thousand that was recognized in 2011. This decrease was slightly offset by an increase in our Products revenue from prototype and other revenue from our manufacturing business in 2012.

Cost of revenue, products. Cost of revenue was $354 thousand, or 54% of total revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2012 from $373 thousand, or 38% of total revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2011. The cost to manufacture parts from our bulk alloys manufacturing business is variable and differs based on the unique design of each product. In addition, much of our current product mix consists of prototype parts and other revenue which have variable cost percentages relative to revenue. As we begin increasing our revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our third party contract manufacturer, we expect our cost of revenue percentages to stabilize and be more predictable.

Gross margin. Our gross margin decreased by $303 thousand from $599 thousand as of December 31, 2011 to $296 thousand as of December 31, 2012. Our gross margin percentage decreased from 62% as of December 31, 2011 to 46% as of December 31, 2012. These decreases are primarily the result of the $381 thousand one-time Swatch license recognized in 2011.

In order to evaluate our margins more thoroughly, we must look to revenue and costs related to our products category of revenue. So excluding Licensing and royalties revenue in our gross margin calculation, the gross margin for our Products category of revenue is $237 thousand or 40% for the year ended December 31, 2012 and $199 thousand or 35% for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Selling, marketing, general, and administrative expenses. Selling, marketing, general, and administrative expenses increased by $607 thousand to $4.9 million, or 746% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2012 from $4.2 million, or 437% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2011. The increase from the prior year was mainly due to additional payroll and recruiting expenses for new hires including an Executive Vice President of Business Development and Operations and a Sales Engineer to facilitate the adoption of our technology. We also paid board fees for 2011 and 2012 in fiscal year 2012. We expect to invest further in our selling efforts by expanding our marketing and sales programs, as well as adding new headcount in our sales department.

Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses decreased by $177 thousand to $943 thousand, or 145% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2012, from $1.1 million, or 115% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2011. We spent less in production supplies and consulting services resulting in the decrease in this expense category, but we continue to perform research and development of new Liquidmetal alloys and related processing capabilities, develop new manufacturing techniques, and contract with consultants to advance the development of Liquidmetal alloys. We have hired a new Vice President of Engineering at the end of 2012, and we expect to invest further in our research and development efforts to facilitate the adoption of our technology.   

Manufacturing contract costs. Manufacturing contract costs consist of a one-time $6.3 million non-cash expense for the year ended December 31, 2012 related to the discount pricing that Visser received under the Visser MTA Agreement. The $6.3 million was determined by taking the $0.21 difference between our weighted average $0.31 stock price at the time of issuances of our common stock and the $0.10 per share actual purchase price, multiplied by the 30,000,000 shares issued to Visser.

Settlement expense. Settlement expense consists of a one-time expense of $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, in satisfaction of a legal settlement with SAGA. We did not incur any settlement expense for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Operating loss. Operating loss increased by $5.3 million from $6.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 to $11.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. Excluding the one-time manufacturing contract costs and settlement expense, Operating loss increased by $733 thousand from a loss of $4.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 to a loss of $5.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. As discussed above, the increase in our operating loss, excluding one-time expenses, is primarily related to a decrease in Total revenue and an increase in operating expense categories from 2011 to 2012.

We continue to invest in our technology infrastructure to expedite the adoption of our technology, but we have experienced long sales lead times for customer adoption of our technology. Until that time where we can either (i) increase our revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our third party contract manufacturer or (ii) obtain significant licensing revenues, we expect to have operating losses for the foreseeable future.

Non-operational expenses

Our income statement contains various, significant items that are non-operational in nature. These categories of expenses may have significant gains and losses based on the volatility of our stock price as follows:

Change in value of warrants, gain. The change in value of warrants was a non-cash gain of $6.5 million, for the year ended December 31, 2012, which resulted from periodic valuation adjustments for warrants issued in connection with the Visser MTA Agreement and the 2012 Private Placement. The significant increase during the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the gain of $1.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2011 was primarily due to the decrease in our stock price during the second half of 2012 from $0.32 as of June 30, 2012 to $0.10 as of December 31, 2012. Changes in the value of our warrants are non-cash and do not affect the operations of our business.

Change in value of embedded conversion feature liability, gain. Change in value of embedded conversion feature liability was a non-cash gain of $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. The change in value of embedded conversion feature liability is mainly due to changes in our stock price, similar to the foregoing fluctuation in the change in value of warrants, associated with the valuation of our embedded conversion feature liability related to convertible note under the 2012 Private Placement.   

Financing costs. Financing costs consist of $1.4 million of non-cash expense for the year ended December 31, 2012, related to the booking of our warrant liability for the issuance of 15,000,000 warrants to Visser at an exercise price of $0.22 per share under the Visser MTA Agreement (see “--Licensing Transactions”).

Other income. Other income was $34 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2012, and $26 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2011. Other income is primarily due to gains on settlements on accounts payable for less than face value.

Debt discount amortization expense. Debt discount amortization expense was $11.9 million of non-cash expense for the year ended December 31, 2012. Debt discount amortization expense primarily relates to the amortization of $12 million of original debt discount over the term of the senior convertible notes issued as part of the 2012 Private Placement along with its issuance costs. The amount includes amortization of debt discount of $7.4 million under the effective interest method and a one-time amortization of debt discount of $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Interest expense. Interest expense was $459 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2012 and was $90 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2011. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2012 consists of the 8% interest related to the senior convertible notes issued as part of the 2012 Private Placement. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2011 primarily consisted of interest accrued on the $1.7 million SAGA promissory note.

Interest income. Interest income was $23 thousand and $22 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, from interest earned on cash deposits.

Gain on disposal of subsidiaries. Gain on disposal of subsidiaries of $12.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 was due to the sale of Advanced Metals Materials (“AMM”), our China subsidiary, the sale of Liquidmetal Technologies, Korea (“LMTK”), our Korea subsidiary, and the divestment of Liquidmetal Coatings (“LMC”), our Coatings subsidiary. The gain on disposal was mainly attributed to the write-off of net liabilities of $10.7 million related to LMC upon deconsolidation and $2.9 million net write-off of investments in AMM and LMC and foreign exchange translation related to LMTK offset by a $1.4 million of loss from write-off of investment and net assets in LMTK. Our gains on disposals of our subsidiaries were mainly the result of write-offs of assets and liability accounts and are non-cash in nature.

Loss from discontinued operations. Loss from discontinued operations of $763 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2011 consisted of the losses from operations of our discontinued subsidiaries. Our discontinued subsidiaries were either sold or de-consolidated as of December 31, 2011.

Net income (loss). Due to the significant impact of our non-recurring, non-cash and non-operating expenses discussed above, our net loss of $14.0 million as of December 31, 2012 and net income of $6.2 million as of December 31, 2011 are reflective of significant fluctuations that are unrelated to the operations of our bulk alloy business. Our “Operating loss, excluding non-recurring expenses” should be reviewed in conjunction with our net income (loss) for a more thorough review of our core business operations.    

Comparison of the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 (unaudited)

All amounts described in this table are in thousands, except share and per share data .  All amounts described in this table are unaudited.

In discussing our results of our operations, we have categorized the specific items of our statements of operations into various categories to facilitate the understanding of our core business operations. Explanations of each category as well as analyses of specific items contained in that category are discussed below:

Operating revenue and expenses

The “Operating revenue and expenses” category of statements of operations items represent those items that pertain to our core operations in the bulk alloy manufacturing and licensing business as follows:

Revenue. Total revenue increased to $456 thousand for the three months ended September 30, 2013 from $107 thousand for the three months ended September 30, 2012. Total revenue also increased for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 to $728 thousand from $517 thousand for the same period in 2012. The increase for the respective periods was primarily attributable to an increase in research and development services under existing purchase orders.     

Cost of sales. Cost of sales was $396 thousand, or 87% of products revenue, for the three months ended September 30, 2013, an increase from $73 thousand, or 91% of products revenue, for the three months ended September 30, 2012. Cost of sales was $589 thousand, or 82% of products revenue, for the nine months ended September 30, 2013, an increase from $256 thousand, or 54% of products revenue, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012. The cost to manufacture parts from our bulk alloys manufacturing business is variable and differs based on the unique design of each product. In addition, much of our current product mix consists of prototype parts and other revenue which have higher internal variable cost percentages, relative to products revenue, than would otherwise be incurred by contract manufacturers. Therefore, our cost of sales as a percentage of products revenue may not be representative of our future cost percentages. When and if we begin increasing our products revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our third party contract manufacturer, we expect our cost of sales percentages to stabilize and be more predictable.

Gross margin. Our gross margin increased to $60 thousand from $34 thousand for the three month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Our gross margin, as a percentage of products revenue, decreased to 13% from 43% for the three month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Our gross margin decreased to $139 thousand from $261 thousand for the nine month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Our gross margin, as a percentage of products revenue, decreased to 19% from 55% for the nine month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. As discussed above under “Cost of sales”, much of our current product mix consists of prototype parts and other revenue which have higher internal variable cost percentages, relative to revenue, than would otherwise be incurred by contract manufacturers. As such, our gross margin percentages may fluctuate based on volume and quoted production prices per unit and may not be representative of our future business. When and if we begin increasing our revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our third party contract manufacturer, we expect our gross margin percentages to stabilize and be more predictable.

Selling, Marketing, General, and Administrative. Selling, marketing, general and administrative expenses were $1.2 million and $3.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively, compared to $1.4 million and $3.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively. The increase in expense for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013 is due to additional payroll expenses for new hires including an Executive Vice President of Business Development and Operations and a Sales Engineer to facilitate the adoption of our technology. The decrease in the three month period ended September 30, 2013 is due to reductions in legal and consulting expenses, which were slightly off-set by increases in payroll expenses for the period.

Research and Development. Research and development expenses increased to $368 thousand and $829 thousand for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively, from $217 thousand and $616 thousand for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively. The increase from the prior year was mainly due to additional company research during 2013, inclusive of testing programs related to our golf subsidiary, and the hiring of our Vice President of Engineering at the end of 2012. We continue to perform research and development of new Liquidmetal alloys and related processing capabilities, develop new manufacturing techniques, and contract with consultants to advance the development of Liquidmetal alloys and related production processes.   

Manufacturing Contract Costs. Manufacturing contract costs consisted of $6.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 related to the discount pricing that Visser received under the Visser MTA Agreement (see note 3 “June 2012 Visser MTA Agreement” in the accompanying footnote to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013). The $6.3 million was determined by taking the $0.21 difference between the Company’s weighted average $0.31 stock price at the time of issuances of our common stock to Visser and the $0.10 per share actual purchase price, multiplied by the 30,000,000 shares issued to Visser. No such costs were incurred in 2013.

Operating loss. Operating loss was $1.5 million and $4.4 million for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2013, respectively. This compares to $1.6 million and $10.0 million for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2012. Excluding the one-time manufacturing contract costs, loss was $1.6 million and $3.7 million for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2012, respectively. The change in our loss is primarily attributable to the increase in operating expenses, off-set by higher revenues, as discussed above.

We continue to invest in our technology infrastructure to expedite the adoption of our technology, but we have experienced long sales lead times for customer adoption of our technology. Until that time where we can either (i) increase our revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our third party contract manufacturer or (ii) obtain significant licensing revenues, we expect to have operating losses for the foreseeable future.

Non-operational expenses

Our statement of operations contains various, significant items that are non-operational in nature. These categories of expenses may have significant gains and losses based on the volatility of our stock price as follows:

Change in Value of Warrants. The change in value of warrants was a non-cash loss of $2.5 million and $1.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively. The change in value of warrants was a non-cash gain of $4.2 million and $4.0 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively. These gains and losses result from periodic valuation adjustments related to fluctuations in our stock price for warrants issued in connection with the Visser MTA Agreement and our senior convertible notes issued in our private placement that closed in July 2012, as further described in note 3 to the accompanying financial statements (the “2012 Private Placement”). Changes in the value of our warrants are non-cash and do not affect the core operations of our business or liquidity.   

Change in Value of Embedded Conversion Feature Liability. Change in value of embedded conversion feature liability was a non-cash gain (loss) of $(2.4 million) and $621 thousand for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively. The change in value of embedded conversion feature liability is due to changes in our stock price associated with the valuation of our embedded conversion feature liability related to the senior convertible notes issued as part of the July 2012 Private Placement, as well as the gradual decrease in the embedded conversion feature liability in conjunction with the amortization of our senior convertible notes. As part of the final conversion of the senior convertible notes on July 17, 2013, the associated embedded conversion liability was reduced to zero due to exercise of the conversion option and was included in the calculation of the resulting gain on extinguishment of the senior convertible notes (see note 7 in the accompanying footnotes to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013).

Debt Discount Amortization. Debt discount amortization expense was $361 thousand and $6.5 million of non-cash expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively (see Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in the accompanying financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013). Debt discount amortization primarily relates to the amortization of $12 million of original debt discount over the term of the senior convertible notes issued as part of the 2012 Private Placement along with related issuance costs. The amount includes amortization of debt discount and issuance costs of $188 thousand and $4.5 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively, under the effective interest method, as well as $173 thousand and $2.0 million of expense for the three and nine months period ended September 30, 2013, respectively, related to the additional issuance of stock at a discount in relation to the amortization of our senior convertible notes. As part of the final conversion of the senior convertible notes on July 17, 2013, the associated unamortized debt discount and debt issuance costs were reduced to zero and were included in the calculation of the resulting gain on extinguishment of the senior convertible notes (see note 7 in the accompanying footnotes to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013).

Financing Costs. Financing costs consisted of $1.4 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 related to the recording of our warrant liability for the issuance of warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of our common stock to Visser at an exercise price of $0.22 per share, which expire on June 1, 2017 under the Visser MTA Agreement (see note 3 in the accompanying footnotes to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013). No such financing costs were incurred in 2013.

Interest Expense. Interest expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 was $21 thousand and $242 thousand, respectively, and consists of the 8% interest related to the senior convertible notes issued as part of the 2012 Private Placement. Interest expense related to the same obligation was $240 thousand and $258 thousand, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012.

Interest Income. Interest income relates to interest earned from our cash deposit for the respective periods.   

Gain on Extinguishment of Debt. Gain on extinguishment of debt was $91 thousand for both the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2013, respectively. The gain consisted of the write-off of unamortized debt discount, unamortized debt issuance costs, embedded conversion feature liabilities, and the difference between the reacquisition price of the shares issued and the contractual conversion price of the senior convertible notes (see note 7 in the accompanying footnotes to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013).

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Year ended December 31, 2012

Our cash used in continuing operations was $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, while cash used in continuing operations was $5.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. Our cash used in investing activities was $86 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2012 primarily from purchase of property and equipment. Our cash provided by financing activities of continuing operations was $12.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 primarily from convertible debt issuance. As of December 31, 2012, our cash balance was $7.2 million.

On July 2, 2012, we entered into definitive agreements relating to a private placement of $12.0 million in principal amount of senior convertible notes due on September 1, 2013 and Warrants to the purchasers of such convertible notes giving such purchasers the right to purchase up to an aggregate of 18,750,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.384 per share. At December 31, 2012, the outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest under the convertible notes was $7.0 million.

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2013 (unaudited)

Our cash used in operations was $4.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2013, cash used in investing activities was $185 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2013, and cash provided by financing activities was $74 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2013. As of September 30, 2013, our cash balance was $3.0 million.

On July 2, 2012, we completed the 2012 Private Placement pursuant to which we issued $12 million in principal amount of senior convertible notes that were due on September 1, 2013 and warrants to the purchasers of such notes giving such purchasers the right to purchase up to an aggregate of 18,750,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.384 per share. As of July 17, 2013, the notes issued in the 2012 Private Placement were paid off in full through the issuance of common stock (see note 7 in the accompanying footnotes to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013).

We anticipate that our current capital resources, when considering expected losses from operations, will be sufficient to fund our operations through the end of the first quarter of 2014. We have a relatively limited history of producing bulk amorphous alloy components and products on a mass-production scale. Furthermore, Visser’s ability to produce our products in desired quantities and at commercially reasonable prices is uncertain and is dependent on a variety of factors that are outside of our control, including the nature and design of the component, the customer’s specifications, and required delivery timelines. Such factors will likely require that we raise additional funds to support our operations beyond the first quarter of 2014. There is no assurance that we will be able to raise such additional funds on acceptable terms, if at all. If we raise additional funds by issuing securities, existing stockholders may be diluted. If funding is insufficient at any time in the future, we may be required to alter or reduce the scope of our operations or to cease operations entirely. Uncertainty as to the outcome of these factors raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.   

On November 8, 2013, we entered into a Common Stock Purchase Agreement that will allow us to raise up to $20 million through periodic issuances of common stock over a three year period (see note 15 in the accompanying footnotes to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2013).

Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of December 31, 2012 and September 30, 2013, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates and assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to our consolidated financial statements since these policies require significant judgment or involve complex estimates that are important to the portrayal of our financial condition and operating results:  

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2011, the FASB, issued guidance regarding the presentation of comprehensive income. The new guidance eliminates the current option to report other comprehensive income and its components in the statement of changes in equity. Instead, an entity will be required to present either a continuous statement of net income and other comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements of net income. The updated guidance is effective on a retrospective basis for financial statements issued for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2011. Our adoption of this guidance on January 1, 2012 did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued additional guidance on fair value measurements that clarifies the application of existing guidance and disclosure requirements, changes certain fair value measurement principles and requires additional disclosures about fair value measurements. The updated guidance is effective on a prospective basis for financial statements issued for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2011. Our adoption of this guidance on January 1, 2012 did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In April 2010, the FASB codified the consensus reached in Emerging Issues Task Force Issue No. 08-09, “Milestone Method of Revenue Recognition.” FASB ASU No. 2010-17 “Revenue Recognition – Milestone Method (Topic 605)” provides guidance on defining a milestone and determining when it may be appropriate to apply the milestone method of revenue recognition for research and development transactions. FASB ASU No. 2010 – 17 is effective on a prospective basis for milestones achieved after the adoption date. Our adoption of this guidance on January 1, 2011 did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.  

In February 2013, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which requires disclosure related to items reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI). The guidance requires entities to present separately, for each component of other comprehensive income (OCI), current period reclassifications and the remainder of the current-period OCI. In addition, for certain current period reclassifications, an entity is required to disclose the effect of the item reclassified out of AOCI on the respective line item of net income. The adoption of this pronouncement did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and accompanying disclosures.  

In February 2013, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which modifies the requirements for the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements for which the total amount of the obligation is fixed at the reporting date. The guidance requires companies to measure these obligations as the sum of the amount the company has agreed with co-obligors to pay and any additional amount it expects to pay on behalf of one or more co-obligors. This guidance is effective for all fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 31, 2013. We do not expect this guidance to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.  

In July 2013, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which will require that an unrecognized tax benefit be presented on the balance sheet as a reduction of a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss ("NOL") or tax credit carryforward under certain circumstances. The guidance is effective for all fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning December 15, 2013. We do not expect this guidance to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.  

Other recent accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB (including its Emerging Issues Task Force), the AICPA and the SEC did not or are not believed by management to have a material impact on our present or future consolidated financial statements.

BUSINESS

Overview

We are a materials technology company that develops and commercializes products made from amorphous alloys. Our Liquidmetal® family of alloys consists of a variety of proprietary bulk alloys and composites that utilize the advantages offered by amorphous alloy technology. We design, develop and sell products and components from bulk amorphous alloys to customers in various industries. We also partner with third-party manufacturers and licensees to develop and commercialize Liquidmetal alloy products. We believe that our proprietary bulk alloys are the only commercially viable bulk amorphous alloys currently available in the marketplace.

Amorphous alloys are, in general, unique materials that are distinguished by their ability to retain a random atomic structure when they solidify, in contrast to the crystalline atomic structure that forms in other metals and alloys when they solidify. Liquidmetal alloys are proprietary amorphous alloys that possess a combination of performance, processing, and potential cost advantages that we believe will make them preferable to other materials in a variety of applications. The amorphous atomic structure of our alloys enables them to overcome certain performance limitations caused by inherent weaknesses in crystalline atomic structures, thus facilitating performance and processing characteristics superior in many ways to those of their crystalline counterparts. For example, in laboratory testing, our zirconium-titanium Liquidmetal alloys are approximately 250% stronger than commonly used titanium alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V, but they also have some of the beneficial processing characteristics more commonly associated with plastics. We believe these advantages could result in Liquidmetal alloys supplanting high-performance alloys, such as titanium and stainless steel, and other incumbent materials in a variety of applications. Moreover, we believe these advantages could enable the introduction of entirely new products and applications that are not possible or commercially viable with other materials.

General Corporate Information

We were originally incorporated in California in 1987, and we reincorporated in Delaware in May 2003. Our principal executive office is located at 30452 Esperanza, Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688. Our telephone number at that address is (949) 635-2100. Our Internet website address is www.liquidmetal.com and all of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are available free of charge on our website.

Our Technology

The performance, processing, and potential cost advantages of Liquidmetal alloys are a function of their unique atomic structure and their proprietary material composition.  

Unique Atomic Structure

The atomic structure of Liquidmetal alloys is the fundamental feature that differentiates them from other alloys and metals. In the molten state, the atomic particles of all alloys and metals have an amorphous atomic structure, which means that the atomic particles appear in a completely random structure with no discernible patterns. However, when non-amorphous alloys and metals are cooled to a solid state, their atoms bond together in a repeating pattern of regular and predictable shapes or crystalline grains. This process is analogous to the way ice forms when water freezes and crystallizes. In non-amorphous metals and alloys, the individual crystalline grains contain naturally occurring structural defects that limit the potential strength and performance characteristics of the material. These defects, known as dislocations, consist of discontinuities or inconsistencies in the patterned atomic structure of each grain. Unlike other alloys and metals, bulk Liquidmetal alloys can retain their amorphous atomic structure throughout the solidification process and therefore do not develop crystalline grains and the associated dislocations. Consequently, bulk Liquidmetal alloys exhibit superior strength and other superior performance characteristics compared to their crystalline counterparts.

Prior to 1993, commercially viable amorphous alloys could be created only in thin forms, such as coatings, films, or ribbons. However, in 1993, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) developed the first commercially viable amorphous alloy in a bulk form. Today, bulk Liquidmetal alloys can be formed into objects that are up to one inch thick, and we are not aware of any other commercially available amorphous alloys that can achieve this thickness. We obtained the exclusive right to commercialize the bulk amorphous alloy through a license agreement with Caltech and have developed the technology to enable the commercialization of the bulk amorphous alloys.

Proprietary Material Composition

The constituent elements and percentage composition of Liquidmetal alloys are critical to their ability to solidify into an amorphous atomic structure. We have several different alloy compositions that have different constituent elements in varying percentages. These compositions are protected by various patents that we own or exclusively license from third parties, including Caltech. The raw materials that we use in Liquidmetal alloys are readily available and can be purchased from multiple suppliers.

Advantages of Liquidmetal Alloys

Liquidmetal alloys possess a unique combination of performance, processing and cost advantages that we believe makes them superior in many ways to other commercially available materials for a variety of existing and potential future product applications.  

Performance Advantages

Our bulk Liquidmetal alloys provide several distinct performance advantages over other materials, and we believe that these advantages make the alloys desirable in applications that require high yield strength, strength-to-weight ratio, elasticity and hardness.

The comparatively high yield strength of bulk Liquidmetal alloys means that a high amount of stress must be exerted to create permanent deformation. However, because the yield strength is so high, the yield strength of many of our bulk Liquidmetal alloys compositions is very near their ultimate strength, which is the measure of stress at which total breakage occurs. Therefore, very little additional stress may be required to break an object made of bulk Liquidmetal alloys once the yield strength is exceeded. Although we believe that the yield strength of many of our bulk alloys exceeds the ultimate strength of most other commonly used alloys and metals, our bulk alloys may not be suitable for certain applications, such as pressurized tanks, in which the ability of the material to yield significantly before it breaks is more important than its strength advantage. Additionally, although our bulk alloys show a high resistance to crack initiation because of their very high strength and hardness, certain of our bulk alloys are sensitive to crack propagation under certain long-term, cyclical loading conditions. Crack propagation is the tendency of a crack to grow after it forms. We continue to develop new alloy compositions that have improved material properties to overcome these limitations.

Processing Advantages

The processing of a material generally refers to how a material is shaped, formed, or combined with other materials to create a finished product. Bulk Liquidmetal alloys possess processing characteristics that we believe make them preferable to other materials in a wide variety of applications. In particular, our alloys are amenable to processing options that are similar in many respects to those associated with plastics. For example, we believe that bulk Liquidmetal alloys have superior net-shape casting capabilities as compared to high-strength crystalline metals and alloys. “Net-shape casting” is a type of casting that permits the creation of near-to-net shaped products that reduce costly post-cast processing or machining. Additionally, unlike most metals and alloys, our bulk Liquidmetal alloys are capable of being thermoplastically molded in bulk form. Thermoplastic molding consists of heating a solid piece of material until it is transformed into a moldable state, although at temperatures much lower than the melting temperature, and then introducing it into a mold to form near-to-net shaped products. Accordingly, thermoplastic molding can be beneficial and economical for net shape fabrication of high-strength products.

Bulk Liquidmetal alloys also permit the creation of composite materials that cannot be created with most non-amorphous metals and alloys. A composite is a material that is made from two or more different types of materials. In general, the ability to create composites is beneficial because constituent materials can be combined with one another to optimize the composite’s performance characteristics for different applications. In other metals and alloys, the high temperatures required for processing could damage some of the composite’s constituent materials and therefore limit their utility. However, the relatively low melting temperatures of bulk Liquidmetal alloys allow mild processing conditions that eliminate or limit damage to the constituent materials when creating composites. In addition to composites, we believe that the processing advantages of Liquidmetal alloys will ultimately allow for a variety of other finished forms, including sheets and extrusions.  

Notwithstanding the foregoing advantages, our bulk Liquidmetal alloys possess certain limitations relative to processing. The beneficial processing features of our bulk alloys are made possible in part by the alloys’ relatively low melting temperatures. Although a lower melting temperature is a beneficial characteristic for processing purposes, it renders certain bulk alloy compositions unsuitable for certain high-temperature applications, such as jet engine exhaust components. Additionally, the current one-inch thickness limitation of our zirconium-titanium bulk alloy renders our alloys currently unsuitable for use as structural materials in large-scale applications, such as load-bearing beams in building construction. We continue to engage in research and development with the goal of developing processing technology and new alloy compositions that will enable our bulk alloys to be formed into thicker objects.

Cost Advantages

Liquidmetal alloys have the potential to provide cost advantages over other high-strength metals and alloys in certain applications. Because bulk Liquidmetal alloys have processing characteristics similar in some respects to plastics, which lends itself to near-to-net shape casting and molding, Liquidmetal alloys can in many cases be shaped efficiently into intricate, engineered products. This capability can eliminate or reduce certain post-casting steps, such as machining and re-forming, and therefore has the potential to significantly reduce processing costs associated with making parts in high volume.

Our Strategy

The key elements of our strategy include:  

Applications for Liquidmetal Alloys

We have focused our commercialization efforts for Liquidmetal alloys on four identified product areas. We believe that these areas are consistent with our strategy in terms of market size, building brand recognition, and providing an opportunity to develop and refine our processing capabilities. Although we believe that strategic partnership transactions could create valuable opportunities beyond the parameters of these target markets, we anticipate continuing to pursue these markets both internally and in conjunction with partners.

Components for Non-Consumer Electronic Products

We design, develop and produce components for non-consumer electronic devices utilizing our bulk Liquidmetal alloys and believe that our alloys offer enhanced performance and design benefits for these components in certain applications. Our strategic focus is primarily on parts that command a price commensurate with the performance advantages of our alloys. These product categories in the non-consumer electronics field include, but are not limited to, parts for high end printers, commercial imaging devices, aerospace components, medical devices, automotive components and industrial machines. We believe that there are multiple applications and opportunities in the non-consumer electronics product category for us to produce parts that command the higher margin and premium prices consistent with our core business strategy.

We believe that the continued miniaturization of, and the introduction of advanced features to non-consumer electronic devices is a primary driver of growth, market share, and profits in our industry. The high strength-to-weight ratio and elastic limit and the processing advantages of bulk Liquidmetal alloys enable the production of smaller, thinner, but stronger electronic parts. We also believe that the strength characteristics of our alloys could facilitate the creation of a new generation of non-consumer electronic devices which currently may not be viable because of strength limitations of conventional metal parts in the marketplace today. Lastly, we believe that our alloys offer style and design flexibility, such as shiny metallic finishes, to accommodate the changing tastes of our customers.  

On August 5, 2010, we entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which, for a one time license fee, we granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize our intellectual property in the field of “consumer electronic” products, as defined in the license agreement. As a result, we will not pursue application of our bulk Liquidmetal alloys in the consumer electronics field. However, we continue to work with Apple to develop and advance research and development in the amorphous alloy space to benefit both consumer and non-consumer electronics fields. For more information regarding our transaction with Apple, see “ – Licensing Transactions” below.

Aerospace and Defense

We design and develop components for aerospace and defense customers to meet their requirements for complex, high strength parts with precision tolerances through our near net-shape molding process. Some of the parts we have developed cannot be made by any other conventional fabrication process, offering designers of high performance, mission critical systems unique alternatives.

Because of the high degree of uniformity and consistency of our volume molding process, we are able to reduce significant costs associated with machining and verifying the dimensional tolerances of high precision parts and post-fabrication steps required to apply highly polished surfaces. Additional key properties for the aerospace and defense market are Liquidmetal’s tensile strength, hardness, wear resistance, resistance to corrosion, and Liquidmetal’s unique properties associated with explosives and munitions.

The many high value and specialized applications within the aerospace and defense industry present significant opportunities for our technology and solutions, and as they are designed into key systems, will provide us with potential long-term revenue streams.

Sporting Goods and Leisure Products

We are developing a variety of applications for Liquidmetal alloys in the sporting goods and leisure products area.

In the sporting goods industry, we believe that the high strength, hardness, and elasticity of our bulk alloys have the potential to enhance performance in a variety of products including but not limited to golf clubs, tennis rackets and skis. We further believe that many sporting goods products are conducive to our strategy of focusing on high-margin products that meet our design criteria.

In the leisure products category, we believe that bulk Liquidmetal alloys can be used to efficiently produce intricately engineered designs with high-quality finishes, such as premium watchcases, and we further believe that Liquidmetal alloy technology can be used to make high-quality, high-strength jewelry from precious metals. We have successfully produced prototype rings made from an amorphous Liquidmetal platinum alloy that is harder (and hence more scratch resistant) than conventional platinum jewelry.   

Medical Devices

We are engaged in product development efforts relating to various medical devices that could be made from bulk Liquidmetal alloys. We believe that the unique properties of bulk Liquidmetal alloys provide a combination of performance and cost benefits that could make them a desirable replacement to incumbent materials, such as stainless steel and titanium, currently used in various medical device applications. Our ongoing emphasis has been on surgical instrument applications for Liquidmetal alloys. These include, but are not limited to, specialized blades, orthopedic instruments utilized for implant surgery procedures, dental devices, and general surgery devices. The potential value offered by our alloys is higher performance in some cases and cost reduction in others, the latter stemming from the ability of Liquidmetal alloys to be net shape cast into components, thus reducing costs of secondary processing. The status of most components in the prototyping phase is subject to non-disclosure agreements with our customers.

We believe that our future success in the medical device market will be driven largely by strategically aligning ourselves with well-established companies that are uniquely positioned to facilitate the introduction of Liquidmetal alloys into this market, especially as it relates to the unique processing challenges and stringent material qualification requirements that are prevalent in this industry. We also believe that our prospects for success in this market will be enhanced through our focus on optimizing existing alloy compositions and developing new alloy compositions to satisfy the industry’s rigorous material qualification standards.

Licensing Transactions

Transaction with Visser Precision Cast, LLC

On June 1, 2012, the Company entered into a Master Transaction Agreement (the “Visser MTA Agreement”) with Visser Precision Cast, LLC (“Visser”) relating to a strategic transaction for manufacturing services and financing.

Under the manufacturing/sublicense component of the Visser MTA Agreement, the Company has agreed to engage Visser as a perpetual, exclusive manufacturer of non-consumer electronic products and to not, directly or indirectly, conduct manufacturing operations, subcontract for the manufacture of products or components or grant a license to any other party to conduct manufacturing operations, except for certain limited exceptions. Further, the Company has agreed to sublicense to Visser, on a fully-paid up, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide basis, all intellectual property rights held by the Company. In addition, Visser has a right of first refusal over any proposed transfer by the Company of its technology pursuant to any license, sublicense, sale or other transfer, other than a license to a machine or alloy vendor.   

Under the Visser MTA Agreement, the Company issued and sold to Visser in a private placement transaction (i) 30,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $0.10 per share resulting in proceeds of $3 millionand (ii) warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.22 per share which expire on June 1, 2017. All of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is subject to a lock-up period through December 31, 2016.

In November 2013, the Company and Visser entered into arbitration proceedings to resolve disputes associated with the Visser MTA Agreement.

Apple License Transaction

On August 5, 2010, the Company entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which (i) the Company contributed substantially all of its intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary, called Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC (“CIP”), (ii) CIP granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products, as defined in the license agreement, in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) CIP granted back to the Company a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use. Additionally, in connection with the license transaction, Apple required the Company to complete a statement of work related to the exchange of Liquidmetal intellectual property information. The Company recognized a portion of the one-time license fee upon receipt of the initial payment and completion of the foregoing requirements under the license transaction. The remaining portion of the one-time license fee was recognized at the completion of the required statement of work.

Under the agreements relating to the license transaction with Apple, the Company is obligated to contribute all intellectual property that it developed through February 2012 (and subsequently amended to extend through February 2014) to CIP. The Company is also obligated to maintain certain limited liability company formalities with respect to CIP at all times after the closing of the license transaction.

Other License Transactions

On January 31, 2012, the Company and Engel Austria Gmbh (“Engel”) entered into a Supply and License Agreement for a five year term whereby Engel was granted a non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to the Company’s licensees. Since that time, the Company has delivered to Engel a customized induction melt system with a configuration for a standard injection-molding machine that that can be commercially supplied and supported by Engel to enable future licensees to manufacture Liquidmetal components.

On November 16, 2011, the Company and Materion Brush Inc. (“Materion”) entered into a Development Agreement to evaluate, analyze and develop amorphous alloy feedstock to be supplied in commercial quantities. Further, on June 17, 2012, the Company entered into a Sales Representation Agreement with Materion whereby Materion shall promote the sale of Liquidmetal’s products for certain commissions. This agreement is for a two year initial term with annual, automatic renewals.  

The Company’s Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary has the exclusive right and license to utilize the Company’s Liquidmetal alloy technology for purposes of golf equipment applications. This right and license is set forth in an intercompany license agreement between Liquidmetal Technologies and Liquidmetal Golf. This license agreement provides that Liquidmetal Golf has a perpetual and exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy technology for the purpose of manufacturing, marketing, and selling golf club components and other products used in the sport of golf. Liquidmetal Technologies owns 79% of the outstanding common stock in Liquidmetal Golf.

In June 2003, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with LLPG, Inc. (“LLPG”). Under the terms of the agreement, LLPG has the right to commercialize Liquidmetal alloys, particularly precious-metal based compositions, in jewelry and high-end luxury product markets. The Company, in turn, will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by LLPG. The exclusive license agreement with LLPG expires on December 31, 2021.

In March 2009, the Company entered into a license agreement with Swatch Group, Ltd. (“Swatch”) under which Swatch was granted a perpetual non-exclusive license to the Company’s technology to produce and market watches and certain other luxury products. In March 2011, this license agreement was amended to grant Swatch exclusive rights as to watches, and the Company’s license agreement with LLPG was simultaneously amended to exclude watches from LLPG’s rights. The Company will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by Swatch. The license agreement with Swatch will expire on the expiration date of the last licensed patent.

Our Intellectual Property

Pursuant to our transaction with Apple described under “ – Licensing Transactions” above, we license substantially all our intellectual property from our wholly-owned subsidiary, Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC. Our intellectual property consists of patents, trade secrets, know-how, and trademarks. Protection of our intellectual property is a strategic priority for our business, and we intend to vigorously protect our patents and other intellectual property. Our intellectual property portfolio includes 58 owned or licensed U.S. patents and numerous patent applications relating to the composition, processing, and application of our alloys, as well as various foreign counterpart patents and patent applications.

Our initial bulk amorphous alloy technology was developed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”). We have acquired patent rights that provide us with the exclusive right to commercialize the amorphous alloy and other amorphous alloy technology developed at Caltech through a license agreement (“Caltech License Agreement”) with Caltech. In addition to the patents and patent applications that we license from Caltech, we are building a portfolio of our own patents to expand and enhance our technology position. These patents and patent applications primarily relate to various applications of our bulk amorphous alloys and the processing of our alloys. The patents expire on various dates between 2014 and 2032. Our policy is to seek patent protection for all technology, inventions, and improvements that are of commercial importance to the development of our business, except to the extent that we believe it is advisable to maintain such technology or invention as a trade secret.   

In order to protect the confidentiality of our technology, including trade secrets, know-how, and other proprietary technical and business information, we require that all of our employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators enter into confidentiality agreements that prohibit the use or disclosure of information that is deemed confidential. The agreements also obligate our employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to assign to us developments, discoveries and inventions made by such persons in connection with their work with us.

Research and Development

We are engaged in ongoing research and development programs that are driven by the following key objectives:  

We conduct our research and development programs internally and also through strategic relationships that we enter into with third parties. As of December 31, 2013, our internal research and development efforts are conducted by a team of four scientists and engineers each of whom we either employ directly or engage as a consultant.

In addition to our internal research and development efforts, we enter into cooperative research and development relationships with leading academic institutions. We have entered into development relationships with other companies for the purpose of identifying new applications for our alloys and establishing customer relationships with such companies. Some of our product development programs are partially funded by our customers. We are also engaged in negotiations with other potential customers regarding possible product development relationships. Our research and development expenses for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 were $1.2 million and $943 thousand, respectively.   

Raw Materials

Liquidmetal alloy compositions are comprised of many elements, all of which are generally available commodity products. We believe that each of these raw materials is readily available in sufficient quantities from multiple sources on commercially acceptable terms. However, any substantial increase in the price or interruption in the supply of these materials could have an adverse effect on our business.

Manufacturing

Our current manufacturing strategy is to partner with global companies that are contract manufacturers and alloy producers. We are seeking third party companies with a proven track record of success and that can gain specialized skills and knowledge of our alloys through close collaborations with our team of scientists and engineers. We believe that partnering with these global companies will allow us to forgo the capital intensive requirements of maintaining our own manufacturing facilities and allow us to focus on our core business which is to expand our patent portfolio of intellectual property and develop long term relationships with our customers.

Under the manufacturing/sublicense component of the Visser MTA Agreement, the Company has agreed to engage Visser as a perpetual, exclusive manufacturer of non-consumer electronic products and to not, directly or indirectly, conduct manufacturing operations, subcontract for the manufacture of products or components or grant a license to any other party to conduct manufacturing operations, except for certain limited exceptions.

Customers

During 2013, there were 3 major customers, who together accounted for 90% of our revenue. During 2012, there were three major customers, who together accounted for 70% of our revenue. In the future, we expect that a significant portion of our revenue may continue to be concentrated in a limited number of customers, even if our bulk alloys business grows.

Competition

Other than our authorized licensees, we are not aware of any other company or business that manufactures, markets, distributes, or sells bulk amorphous alloys or products made from bulk amorphous alloys. We believe it would be difficult to develop a competitive bulk amorphous alloy without infringing our patents. However, our bulk Liquidmetal alloys face competition from other materials, including metals, alloys, plastics and composites, which are currently used in the commercial applications that we pursue. For example, we face significant competition from plastics, zinc and stainless steel in our non-consumer electronics components business, and titanium and composites will continue to be used widely in medical devices and sporting goods. Many of these competitive materials are produced by domestic and international companies that have substantially greater financial and other resources than we do. Based on our experience with developing products for a variety of customers, we believe that the selection of materials by potential customers will continue to be product-specific in nature, with the decision for each product being driven primarily by the performance needs of the application and secondarily by cost considerations and design flexibility. Because of the relatively high strength of our alloys and the design flexibility of our process, we are most competitive when the customer is seeking a higher strength as well as greater design flexibility than currently available with other materials. However, if currently available materials, such as plastics, are strong enough for the application, our alloys are often not competitive in those applications with respect to price. We also believe that our alloys are generally not competitive with the cost of some of the basic metals, such as steel, aluminum or copper, when such basic metals can be used in specific applications, but our alloys are generally more competitive with price on more exotic metals, such as titanium. Our alloys could also face competition from new materials that may be developed in the future, including new materials that could render our alloys obsolete.   

We will also experience indirect competition from the competitors of our customers. Because we will rely on our customers to market and sell finished goods that incorporate our components or products, our success will depend in part on the ability of our customers to effectively market and sell their own products and compete in their respective markets.

Backlog

Because of the minimal lead-time associated with orders of bulk alloy parts, we generally do not carry a significant backlog. The backlog as of any particular date gives no indication of actual sales for any succeeding period.

Sales and Marketing

We direct our marketing efforts towards customers that will incorporate our components and products into their finished goods. To that end, we have hired additional business development personnel who, in conjunction with engineers and scientists, will actively identify potential customers that may be able to benefit from the introduction of Liquidmetal alloys to their products. We currently have 3 full-time employees and 1 contractor engaged in sales and marketing activities.

Employees

As of December 31, 2013, we had 18 total employees, all of whom are employed on a full-time basis. As of that date, none of our employees were represented by a labor union. We have not experienced any work stoppages and we consider our employee relations to be favorable.   

Governmental Regulation

Government regulation of our products will depend on the nature and type of product and the jurisdictions in which the products are sold. For example, medical instruments incorporating our Liquidmetal alloys will be subject to regulation in the United States by the FDA and corresponding state and foreign regulatory agencies. Medical device manufacturers to whom we intend to sell our products may need to obtain FDA approval before marketing their medical devices that incorporate our products and may need to obtain similar approvals before marketing these medical device products in foreign countries.

Environmental Law Compliance

Beryllium is a minor constituent element of some of our alloys. The processing of beryllium can result in the release of beryllium into the workplace and the environment and in the creation of beryllium oxide as a by-product. Beryllium is classified as a hazardous air pollutant, a toxic substance, a hazardous substance, and a probable human carcinogen under environmental, safety, and health laws, and various acute and chronic health effects may result from exposure to beryllium. We are required to comply with certain regulatory requirements and to obtain a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or other government agencies to process beryllium.

Our operations are subject to other national, state, and local environmental laws in the United States. We believe that we are in material compliance with all applicable environmental regulations. While we continue to incur costs to comply with environmental regulations, we do not believe that such costs will have a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position.

Golf Subsidiary

From 1997 until September 2001, we were engaged in the retail marketing and sale of golf clubs through a majority owned subsidiary, Liquidmetal Golf. The retail business of Liquidmetal Golf was discontinued in September 2001. However, in December 2012, we recommenced activities and discussions with potential partners regarding the development of golf club components for golf original equipment manufacturers that will integrate these components into their own clubs and then sell them under their respective brand names. Liquidmetal Technologies owns 79% of the outstanding common stock in Liquidmetal Golf.

Our Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary has the exclusive right and license to utilize our Liquidmetal alloy technology for purposes of golf equipment applications. This right and license is set forth in an intercompany license agreement between Liquidmetal Technologies and Liquidmetal Golf. This license agreement provides that Liquidmetal Golf has a perpetual and exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy technology for the purpose of manufacturing, marketing, and selling golf club components and other products used in the sport of golf. In consideration of this license, Liquidmetal Golf has issued 4,500,000 shares of Liquidmetal Golf common stock to Liquidmetal Technologies, which comprises of Liquidmetal Technologies’ 79% ownership interest in Liquidmetal Golf.   

Properties

Our principal executive office and principal research and development offices are located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California and consist of approximately 15,000 square feet. We occupy this facility pursuant to a lease agreement that expires in April 2016. We currently expect that the foregoing facility will meet our anticipated research, warehousing, and administrative needs for the foreseeable future.

Legal Proceedings

In November 2013, Visser and we entered into arbitration proceedings with the Judicial Arbiter Group in Denver, Colorado. Both parties have filed claims alleging breaches of various obligations under the Visser MTA Agreement entered into on June 1, 2012.

In general, we have filed claims for damages against Visser for fraudulently inducing us into entering the Visser MTA Agreement and harm inflicted on us for its failure to perform under the manufacturing component of the Visser MTA Agreement. In addition, we are seeking reformation and/or termination of parts of the Visser MTA Agreement in order to free us from the exclusive manufacturing arrangement with Visser and allow us to seek other manufacturing partners. Visser has also filed claims for damages against us alleging several violations of the Visser MTA Agreement including fraudulent contract inducement and securities fraud through alleged misrepresentations regarding our future capitalization, breach of several components of the Visser MTA Agreement through alleged inappropriate sharing of intellectual property with other business partners, as well as the lack of a qualified sales force in marketing our technology and related production efforts of Visser. Visser also requests equitable relief in the form of orders increasing its stock ownership and requiring us to honor its asserted rights of first refusal with respect to our technology.

MANAGEMENT

Directors and Executive Officers

The following table provides information with respect to our directors and officers as of February 7, 2014:   

Thomas Steipp was elected by our board of directors to serve as our President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2010 and was also elected to our board of directors in August 2010. Mr. Steipp previously served in various roles at Symmetricom, Inc., a publicly traded provider of products for communications infrastructure and systems. Mr. Steipp served as Symmetricom’s Chief Executive Officer from December 1998 to June 2009, Chief Financial Officer from December 1998 to October 1999, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Telecom Solutions, a division of Symmetricom, from March 1998 to December 1998. Mr. Steipp also served on Symmetricom’s board of directors from 1998 to 2009. During his employment with Symmetricom, Mr. Steipp worked to transform the company from a technology holding company into a telecommunications hardware focused company, served as the company’s spokesman in working with investors, implemented a new business model, worked to reduce operating expenses, and led acquisition activities. Mr. Steipp has also served on the board of directors of Alpha and Omega Semiconductors Limited, a publicly traded designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of power semiconductors, since November 2006. Mr. Steipp received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the Air Force Academy and M.S. in industrial administration from Purdue University. Our board of directors believes that Mr. Steipp’s experience and background make him a qualified and valuable member of our board of directors. In particular, Mr. Steipp’s experience and background in working with publicly traded, technology-based industrial products companies, recruiting executives, working with investors, implementing new business models, and leading acquisition activities make him a valuable resource for our company.

Tony Chung was elected by our board of directors to serve as our Chief Financial Officer in December 2008. Most recently, Mr. Chung served as Chief Financial Officer at BETEK Corporation, a real estate and investment subsidiary of SK Engineering and Construction, from February 2008 to December 2008 and as Chief Financial Officer of Solarcity, a company providing advanced solar technology and installation services, from March 2007 to January 2008. Mr. Chung’s primary role was to manage the overall financial operations of both companies. Previously, Mr. Chung was employed by us as our Vice President of Finance from May 2004 to February 2007. Mr. Chung is a Certified Public Accountant and served eight years at KPMG as an Audit and Consulting Manager for several large multinational companies. He received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1992. Mr. Chung is also an Attorney at Law and received his J. D. degree from Pacific Coast University School of Law in 2006.

Bruce Bromage was elected by our board of directors to serve as Executive Vice President of Business Development and Operations in November 2012 after serving as a Strategic Marketing and Operations consultant with the company since June 2012. From April 2002 to August 2010, Dr. Bromage served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Symmetricom, a publicly traded provider of products for communications infrastructure and systems, and was an officer of that company. Responsibilities during his eight years with the company included Corporate Strategy, M&A Integration, Information Technology, and General Management of the Timing, Test and Measurement Division and the Technology Realization Center. Prior to Symmetricom, Dr. Bromage held senior executive positions with two high-technology startups and managed Strategic Business Development with Hewlett Packard. Dr. Bromage received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1981 and has completed executive programs with the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Our board of directors believes that Dr. Bromage’s experience and background make him a qualified and valuable member of our executive management team. In particular, his prior experience in start-up companies, developing new technologies and business models and his extensive knowledge in acquisitions and negotiations make him a valuable resource for our company.   

Scott Gillis was elected to our board of directors in August 2011 and has served as the Chairman of our Audit Committee and as a member of our Compensation Committee and our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee since that time. Mr. Gillis recently retired, after serving AIG for 28 years, as a financial executive and business  unit CFO. Before retiring from AIG, Mr. Gillis served AIG's Life & Retirement business, SunAmerica Financial Group, as Senior Vice President of Finance, as Treasurer, and as CFO of SunAmerica's retirement services businesses. He has served many years on the boards of a number of SunAmerica companies, including SunAmerica Life Insurance Company, SunAmerica Annuity and Life Assurance Company, First SunAmerica Life Insurance Company, Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, AIG Advisor Group Inc., SunAmerica Affordable Housing Partners Inc., SunAmerica Investments Inc., SunAmerica Capital Services Inc. and Western National Life Insurance Company. Mr. Gillis began his career at SunAmerica as Director of Audit. From 1989 to 1995 he served as Vice President and Controller of the SunAmerica Life Companies. He was promoted to Senior Vice President and Controller in 1996, elected a director in 2000, and then CFO in 2003. He was elected Vice President of SunAmerica Inc. in 1998, made Controller in 2000, promoted to Senior Vice President in 2001 and named CFO in 2004. In 2011, he was named a Senior Vice President of SunAmerica Financial Group. Our board of directors believes that Mr. Gillis’ experience and background make him a qualified and valuable member of our board of directors. In particular, Mr. Gillis’ background working in multi-million dollar companies in the financial industry and experience in the financial sector make him a valuable resource for our company. In addition, our board of directors believes that his 37 years of experience with financial reporting and financial statements, and two decades of experience with SEC filings and financial statements make him a valuable member of the audit committee of our board of directors.

Abdi Mahamedi has served as a director since May 2009 and became Chairman of our board of directors in March 2010. Since 1987, Mr. Mahamedi has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Carlyle Development Group of Companies (“CDG”), which develops and manages residential and commercial properties in the United States on behalf of investors worldwide. At CDG, Mr. Mahamedi evaluates and supervises all of the investment activities and management personnel. Prior to joining CDG, Mr. Mahamedi founded Emanuel Land Company, a subsidiary of Emanuel & Company, a Wall Street investment banking firm, and served as a managing director for Emanuel Land Company from 1986 to 1987. In 1983, Mr. Mahamedi received his B.S.E. degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1984 he received his M.S.E. degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Our board of directors believes that Mr. Mahamedi’s experience and background make him a qualified and valuable member of our board of directors. In particular, his knowledge in working with global investment companies and leading acquisition activities makes him a valuable resource for our company.

Ricardo Salas began serving as our Executive Vice President in December 2008 and began serving on our board of directors in October 2010. He previously served as our Chief Executive Officer and President from December 2005 through October 2006 and from October 2006 to December 2008, he served as an independent consultant to the Company. Mr. Salas also served on our board of directors from April 1995 to May 2003. From January 2000 through June 2005, Mr. Salas served as Chief Executive Officer of iLIANT Corporation, an information technology and outsourcing service firm in the health care industry. He served as a director of CyberDefender Corporation which provides Internet security technology and remote PC repair services to the consumer and small business market, and MED3000 Group, Inc., a national provider of healthcare management and technology services. He served as Director of VillageEDOCS, a technology company providing software-as-a-service to financial services, healthcare and various other industries from June 2005 through March 2013. Mr. Salas received a B.A. degree in Economics from Harvard College in 1986. Our board of directors believes that Mr. Salas’s experience and background make him a qualified and valuable member of our board of directors. In addition to Mr. Salas’s prior experience as our director and executive officer, he has extensive knowledge working with technology-based companies. His background working with investors, leading acquisition activities and negotiating transactions make him a valuable resource for our company.

Bob Howard-Anderson began serving on our board of directors in February 2013. Beginning in 2002, Mr. Howard-Anderson served as President and CEO of Occam Networks, a leading provider of broadband access solutions, until its acquisition by Calix Inc. in February 2011. Since the acquisition of Occam Networks, Mr. Howard-Anderson has been consulting and advising small technology and private equity companies and investing in the technology arena. Mr. Howard-Anderson also serves on the board of Technology Credit Union, a greater than $1 billion credit union, for the past 17 years. Previously, Mr. Howard-Anderson served as Vice President of Product Operations at Procket Networks from 2000 to 2002, where he was responsible for R&D, product management and manufacturing operations. Prior to that, Mr. Howard-Anderson was Vice President of Engineering for Sun Microsystems Inc., responsible for developing and introducing a broad portfolio of products. Prior to Sun Microsystems, he served as Vice President of Engineering at First Pacific Networks as well as Network Equipment Technology. He also held management positions at Bolt Baranek and Newman (BBN) and Octocom Inc. Mr. Howard-Anderson holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and Physics from Tufts University. Our board of directors believes that Mr. Howard-Anderson’s experience and background make him a qualified and valuable member of our board of directors. In particular, his more than 30 years of experience in the data and telecommunication equipment industries managing large R&D and product development initiatives, as well as his experience managing startup companies to profitability will make him a valuable member of our board of directors.  

Richard Sevcik began serving on our board of directors in May 2013. Mr. Sevcik currently serves as President of Sevcik Consulting, which he founded in 2006 and which provides consulting services to companies that provide semiconductor products and tools to their customers for consumer-oriented products such as smart phones, tablets, digital cameras and eBooks. Since 2010, Mr. Sevcik has also served on the board of directors of Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited, a publicly traded designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of power semiconductors. Mr. Sevcik previously served on the board of directors of SiliconBlue Technologies from 2008 until its acquisition by Lattice Semiconductor in 2011. Mr. Sevcik received his B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Illinois and M.S. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University. Our board of directors believes that Mr. Sevcik’s extensive directorial, management and governance experiences and his understanding of the business operation and reporting of publicly traded technology companies, as well as his background in electrical engineering, bring significant management expertise, scientific knowledge and appropriate perspective to our board of directors.

Director Independence

Our board of directors presently has six members. Our board of directors has determined that three of its current members, Mr. Gillis, Mr. Howard-Anderson, and Mr. Sevcik, are “independent directors” as defined under the rules of The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Executive Benefits and Perquisites

Set forth below is information regarding compensation earned by or paid or awarded to the following executive officers of the company during the year ended December 31, 2013: (i) Thomas Steipp, our President and Chief Executive Officer; (ii) Tony Chung, our Chief Financial Officer; (iii) Bruce Bromage, our Executive Vice President of Business Development and Operations and (iv) Rick Salas, our Executive Vice-President. These persons are hereafter referred to as our “named executive officers.” The identification of such named executive officers is determined based on the individual’s total compensation for the year ended December 31, 2013, as reported below in the Summary Compensation Table.    

Summary Compensation Table

The following table sets forth for each of the named executive officers: (i) the dollar value of base salary and bonus earned during the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012; (ii) the aggregate grant date fair value of stock and option awards granted during 2013 and 2012, computed in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 718(R); (iii) the dollar value of earnings for services pursuant to awards granted during 2013 and 2012 under non-equity incentive plans; (iv) non-qualified deferred compensation earnings during 2013 and 2012; (v) all other compensation for 2013 and 2012; and, finally, (vi) the dollar value of total compensation for 2013 and 2012.  

For a description of the material terms of employment agreements with our named executive officers, see “Employment Agreements” below. 

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2013 Fiscal Year-End

The following table sets forth information on outstanding option and stock awards held by the named executive officers at December 31, 2013, including the number of shares underlying both exercisable and unexercisable portions of each stock option as well as the exercise price and expiration date of each outstanding option.  

Employment Agreements

On August 3, 2010, we entered into an employment agreement with Thomas Steipp, our Chief Executive Officer. Under his employment agreement, Mr. Steipp receives a base salary of $300,000, which may be adjusted upward in the sole discretion of our board of directors on an annual basis. In addition, Mr. Steipp is entitled to such bonuses or additional compensation as may be granted by our board of directors or the Chairman of our board of directors, in their sole discretion. The employment agreement provides that we can terminate Mr. Steipp’s employment at any time and for any reason, provided that if his employment is terminated without “Cause” (as specifically defined in the agreement), then he will continue to be entitled to his base salary and health and welfare benefits for a period of twelve months after termination. In the event that Mr. Steipp terminates his own employment within thirty days after a change in control of the company, we will be obligated to pay him a lump-sum severance payment equal to his base salary for the remainder of the five-year term. The employment agreement provides that Mr. Steipp will not be entitled to any severance compensation if he voluntarily leaves the employment of the company or is terminated for “Cause.” In addition, Mr. Steipp was also granted an aggregate of 6 million restricted shares of our common stock, which will vest in increments of 1.2 million shares on each anniversary of his employment with us. In the event that Mr. Steipp ceases to be employed by us prior to the fifth anniversary of his employment as a result of (i) death, (ii) termination by us without “Cause,” or (iii) termination by Mr. Steipp within thirty days of a change in control of our company, any unvested shares will immediately vest. In the event that Mr. Steipp ceases to be employed by us prior to the fifth anniversary of his employment for any other reason, he will forfeit any unvested shares.  

401(k) Savings Plan

We have adopted a tax-qualified employee savings and retirement plan, or 401(k) plan, that covers all of our employees. Pursuant to our 401(k) plan, participants may elect to reduce their current compensation, on a pre-tax basis, by up to the statutorily prescribed annual limit, whichever is lower, and have the amount of the reduction contributed to the 401(k) plan. The 401(k) plan permits us, in our sole discretion, to make additional employer contributions to the 401(k) plan. However, we do not currently make employer contributions to the 401(k) plan and may not do so in the future. As such, contributions by employees or by us to the 401(k) plan, and the income earned on plan contributions, are not taxable to employees until withdrawn from the 401(k) plan, and we can deduct our contributions, if any, at the time they are made.

Pension Benefits

We do not sponsor any qualified or non-qualified defined benefit plans.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

We do not maintain any non-qualified defined contribution or deferred compensation plans. The Compensation Committee, which is comprised solely of “outside directors” as defined for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, may elect to provide our officers and other employees with non-qualified defined contribution or deferred compensation benefits if the Compensation Committee determines that doing so is in our best interests.

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

The following table sets forth information regarding the compensation received by each of our non-employee directors serving during the year ended December 31, 2013: